Peter Bosz claimed that PSV Eindhoven’s Champions League defeat to Juventus was “unnecessary to lose” after conceding late on to Samuel Mbangula’s goal.
PSV had recovered well from Weston McKennie’s opening goal, with Ivan Perisic levelling the contest in the 56th minute, before spurning some chances to win the game.
But Mbangula, on as a substitute, snatched a winner with eight minutes remaining, handing Thiago Motta’s side a slender advantage heading into the second leg.
PSV have now failed to win their last six Champions League games against Italian teams (D1 L5), their longest current winless run against teams from a single country.
“I think it’s a shame,” Bosz said afterwards. “I didn’t think it was necessary to lose. Why did it happen?
“Because it’s a top match and these kinds of game usually turn on small details. And we came up short on two or three of them.”
We moeten het volgende week doen.#JUVPSV #UCL pic.twitter.com/DC9k9PE73P
— PSV (@PSV) February 11, 2025
“I think it was an unnecessary loss,” added Bosz. “We had a hard time in the first five minutes but after that I thought we had a grip on the match.
“We dared to play football and the first big chance came our way. We scored a great goal to make the score 1-1. Then it’s a shame that you give it away like this.”
Mbangula’s winner came from an error by PSV goalkeeper Walter Benitez, who parried Francisco Conceicao’s cross into the young Belgian’s path to finish.
But besides pointing out the mistakes his side made, Bosz was quick to laud the performance of Perisic, who turned 36 at the start of February.
The Croatian netted a stunning equaliser, brilliantly bringing down Noa Lang’s blocked shot before firing a left-footed shot in at Michele Di Gregorio’s near post.
“I think what he showed was very special. Not only because he scored, but I think it was a very well-taken goal.”
